Accuracy and Precision- The ego chase.

 Many years ago, I watched as the internet simultaneously applauded a company for offering a 1 MOA guarantee while saying that Defoor’s 4 MOA shooting standard was too tough. A great shooter can do great things with a bad rifle, but you can only get so far. Along with that, a bad shooter with a great rifle will do terrible things with that rifle. By collecting data, it becomes clear very quickly where the problem lies.

I have enough data collected to call myself a solid 1.2 MOA shooter. I have collected on several weapon types and tens of thousands of rounds. Could I be better, sure? Of course. That isn’t the important part. What is important is that I can use that as a baseline for more data collection.
If I am truly hunting accuracy, I must remove myself from the equation. I need to fully bench the rifle and take my skill out of the mix. This will give me the inherent accuracy of the rifle and ammunition combination. If I don’t, I probably won’t see anything solid below 1.2 MOA.

For this, I would be collecting a few data points. Group size is one data point. For this I can use apps such as Ballistic-X and standard targets for all the testing. You can go as deep as you like with this and use calipers and other tools. Something that most don’t think about when working groups is the velocity of the bullet. High Standard Deviation can cause group size to expand do to the faster and slower bullets at range.

Getting that data requires some sort of chronograph to give you muzzle velocity and SD of your chosen ammunition. Ammunition is one of the greatest factors in accuracy. You need to test with several brands and types and collect the data.  Another tool that can be of great use during this is the Mantis X. Being able to show the movement of the firearm during that testing makes perfect sense.

Be on the look out for the next post talking through the process.